Archive By Section - Sports columnists

With six weeks left in the regular season, it's time to reflect on the teams of the finest conference in all of college football. A just-past-midseason assessment is appropriate given that most SEC teams are off this week - or they might as well be. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi State are off. Alabama has the equivalent of an off week against Tennessee, as does Arkansas against the menacing Ole Miss Black Bears.

We've got five weeks of college football under our belts. That's five weeks of tailgating at stadiums across the SEC, game parties at stately southern homes, and road trips from Texas to South Carolina and everywhere in between.

Since most high school football teams are at the midway point of the season, here's some of the biggest stories to follow for the second half of the regular season. There have been some minor surprises so far this season, making the next five weeks probably even more exciting for fans in Northeast Georgia to follow.

It's already Week 5 of the college football season and Saturday's games take place on the first day of my favorite month, October. Comfortably cooling temperatures, clear blue skies, and five October weekends of big-time SEC match-ups, including Saturday night's clash of conference titans, Alabama and Florida.

As we approach late September, SEC football is in full swing, along with another bruising competitive race - the Republican presidential campaign. It's difficult not to notice the parallels between the SEC and presidential politics. Big money. Bigger egos.

When college football coaches hand out more scholarships than they have to give, it isn't always the incoming freshmen suspended in gridiron purgatory. For every Elliott Porter left in a lurch, there's at least one Bryce Sherman.

Until Saturday, the Buford Wolves had steam rolled through the Class AA state playoffs without a loss, sweeping the first four series over Fannin County, defending state champions Calhoun, Pierce County and Appling County.

As I type these words, I really thought at this point they'd be accompanied by an area baseball team from Region 8-AAA still alive in the state playoffs. Though White County, Gainesville and North Hall were all eliminated in the second round, it doesn't take away from what they accomplished this season.